Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) and Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) Found in Diet of the Non-native Cane Toad (Rhinella marina) in Florida

Melinda J. Schuman^1,*, Susan L. Snyder¹, Copley H. Smoak¹, and Carla J. Dove²

¹Conservancy of Southwest Florida, 1495 Smith Preserve Way, Naples, FL 34102. ²Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20560. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist,Volume 20, Issue 4 (2021): N115–N118

Abstract
Rhinella marina (Cane Toad) is a generalist predator that has been found to consume both invertebrate and vertebrate prey. Herein, we detail the first confirmed consumption of hatchling Zenaida macroura (Mourning Dove) and Sialia sialis (Eastern Bluebird) by the non-native invasive Cane Toad in Florida. Although birds are not known to be a large part of the Cane Toad diet, opportunistic consumption of hatchlings that likely fell from nests suggests that ground-nesting birds could also be at risk of predation by Cane Toads.

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